This invention relates to a lid lock structure, and more particularly to an improvement in a lid lock which permits a person to open a lid of a fueling port within a recess in a car without leaving the driver's seat.
In the past, the fueling port of a car was exposed on the exterior of the car body and the cap of the fueling port was unlocked with the ignition key when the car was to be fueled. However, this entailed the inconvenience of having to unlock the cap, and the exposure of the fueling port to the exterior was both unsightly and dangerous. Recently, car fueling ports are concealed by being mounted within a recess made in the car body and by closing the recess with a hinged lid, which is flush with the surface of the car body when closed. The lid is designed to be unlatched when the driver sitting in his seat pulls a lever which is connected to an appropriate unlatching mechanism via a cable. This lever is provided within easy reach of the driver so that he can unlatch and open the lid without leaving his seat. A spring is provided to a hinge of the lid, and it is resiliently loaded when the lid is closed and latched. Therefore, the lid, when unlatched, snaps open.
This conventional structure requires two separate components, that is, a lid lock which is designed to be controlled remotely for unlatching, and a spring unit for raising and opening the lid. The lid lock must be fixed in a relatively small space with bolts and nuts, and the spring unit must be combined with the hinge of the lid and fixed with bolts, washers etc. This requires tedious work disadvantageous to car assembly on the production line.